Related

4 Responses

Right now I’m working on a short blogpost about ‘your penguins’ and I was wondering, why so many science news websites (sciencedaily, livesciene, ABC Science, etc.) claim, that the Kairuku are the biggest penguins ever to be discovered. You mentioned that they are tall in comparison to the emperor penguin, but I’d like to know, why so many people got this wrong. I had no access to the paper but for me it seems obvious, that the Kairuku penguins are definetly not the biggest penguins ever found/discovered. Species of the genera Anthropornis and Pachydyptes were way bigger/taller. What’s your opinion on this interpretation? I’d really like to know.

Thanks for the quick response and for sending me a preview of your post! I didn’t consider, that all we know about the height of P. ponderosus is based on extrapolations and therefor afflicted with uncertainty…

March of the Fossil Penguins

written by Dr. Daniel Ksepka

This blog details fossil discoveries and research on the fascinating Sphenisciformes. The aim is to introduce the cast of fossil species (50 and counting), explore the evolutionary history of penguin bones, feathers and ecology, and explain how scientists learn about life in the past.